The Atfal from the North East Region were hosted in London for a three-day residential trip, with 20 places allocated amongst the different Qiadats. We were joined by the Midlands and Scotland regions, and Alhamdulillah all the atfal forged new bonds and relationships, which they will hopefully develop throughout their lives. Following is a day by day summary of the activities and events that took place.

Friday:

ØThe day started off at around 18:00 PM, with Atfal from Bradford North, Bradford South, Leeds, Keighley, Hartlepool and Newcastle coming together at Masjid Al-Mahdi in Bradford to offer congregational prayers. Following this the atfal were given some food and we set off for Bait-ul-Futuh together at 19:00 PM. In total, 4 cars left for London.

ØWe arrived at 23:00 PM, and were received by the organisers of the event. The atfal were then provided with a dinner consisting of fish, rice and chicken curry.

ØAs the atfal were quite tired after the long journey, they were allocated sleeping spaces in the Tahir hall, and the lights were turned off shortly after.

Saturday:

ØThe atfal woke up early in the morning to offer Fajr Prayers at 5:30 AM. This was followed with breakfast at 6:15 AM of croissants, toast, cereal and omelettes, which they all greatly enjoyed.

ØAt 8:00 AM, the Atfal had the good fortune of a discussion session with Noman Raja sahib, where a lot of them asked questions and discussed answers, with a common theme of brotherhood and companionship. This lasted for about 45 minutes.

ØFollowing that, the Atfal were taken to the archery club, which was a one-hour session where all of them had the opportunity to learn how to use a bow for the first time. This was particularly popular amongst the atfal, as a lot of them wanted to stay for longer. Unfortunately, time constraints meant that we couldn’t do so.

ØThe atfal were then changed into a dress code (white shirt and black trousers) for their Q&A session with Hazoor. We arrived at Fazl Mosque at 11:45 AM, and the atfal were seated based on their regions. The session started at 12:15 PM, with Hazoor (A.B.U.H) answering the questions of the ever-inquisitive minds of our young atfal. Alhamdulillah this was a great opportunity, and labelled as “the highlight of the event” by many. The atfal and accompanying khuddam/local nazimeen then had a picture taken with Hazoor (A.B.U.H), who also gave everyone a pen as a gift.

ØNext, we offered Zuhr prayers behind Hazoor (A.B.U.H), after which a lunch of chicken and chips was served just opposite to Fazl mosque.

ØAt about 14:30 PM, we departed for Islamabad for Kitaa Khass, and here the atfal got to stretch their legs in the fields surrounding the main buildings. Unfortunately, however, as we were running behind schedule, the football tournament had to be cancelled. Although this was a shame, the atfal were impressive in how maturely they dealt with this, with very few complaints being presented.

ØThis was followed by a short twenty-minute drive to the nearby Jamia building, where the atfal were given some light refreshments, as well as a tour and history of Jamia by current students. This was well received by the atfal, with some expressing how impressed they were with the facilities on-site.

ØAfter offering Asr prayers, we left the Jamia for Makhzan-e-Tasveer, arriving at 19:00 PM. Here the atfal saw a chronological record of the history of the Jama’at, with a couple discovering pictures of themselves amongst ones on display.

ØAs we wanted the atfal to be in the first few rows at Fazl mosque for Isha namaz, we arrived at Bait-ul-Fazl at 20:00 PM, where the atfal, especially the young ones, showed great patience in sitting silently for half an hour.

ØDinner this night was a BBQ with the Ameer sahib UK, which started at 21:00 PM. The atfal had burgers, kebabs and chicken pieces to choose from, as well as a healthy salad. The dinner went down well with not only the atfal but the local nazimeen as well!

ØThe cohort then came back to Bait-ul-Futuh, and as all the atfal were feeling the effects of a long, jam-packed day, a lot of them turned in early.

Sunday:

ØSunday started even earlier than Saturday, at about 5:15 AM, due to the fact that we went to Bait-ul-Fazl to offer Fajr behind Hazoor (A.B.U.H).

ØBreakfast was provided to the atfal at 6:15 AM, again with a variety of choices such as Nutella, toast, omelettes, croissants, pain au chocolats, cereal and fruit.

ØThis was followed by a small resting period here most of the atfal opted to do a fun quiz, led by Ghalib sahib, as well as games such as “Heads down, Thumbs up!”.

ØWe then headed towards Guildford spectrum, arriving there at about 8:45 AM.

ØThe atfal first got to do some bowling for about half an hour, which was particularly exciting for a few who hadn’t done it before.

ØFollowing this was one of the most highly anticipated events of the residential; swimming. The atfal had an hour and a half to splash about in the pool and use water slides, which was all a great deal of fun for them.

ØWe then went back to Bait-ul-Fazl for Zuhr and Asr prayers, which was followed by lunch. This consisted of fries and nuggets, as well as biryani and raita. The atfal were also given ice cream as treats.

ØThe final event of the residential was a short presentation at 14:15 PM by Abid Khan sahib, who’s the press secretary for Hazoor (A.B.U.H). The atfal got to hear quite a few short stories and incidents relating to the current Khalifa, and after this they asked questions, such as those regarding Hazoor’s (A.B.U.H.) daily routine.

ØThe day concluded with dua and some group photos, after which the atfal departed for the North East.

ØThey all enjoyed the jam-packed three days of fun, got to meet new people and most importantly gained Allah’s blessings through offering prayers behind Hazoor (A.B.U.H.) and mulaqat with him.

MAA Bradford South hold their local ijtema on Saturday 27th of February at Baitul Hamd. Ijtema attendance was 11 atfals out of 12 and 8 pre atfals as well. We hold 5 academic and 4 sports competitions. By the grace of God ijtema was succeeded in all aspects. Please have a look at below video highlighting some of ijtema aspects.

On the morning of 28th February 12 Atfal & 5 pre-Atfal helped plant up to 3000 trees in York. The event was blessed with beautiful weather and the work done on the day was appreciated by the local MP who attended to express his gratitude to all the participants.

The Atfal worked along Khuddam and quickly learned the art of tree planting.

Majlis Atfal-ul Ahmadiyya Hertfordshire planned a two day trip in the North, whereby it commenced with a trip up to Baitul Afiyat in Sheffield on Friday 19th of February. 22 Atfal and 5 Khuddam/Ansar were involved in the trip. After spending the night in Sheffield and having a light breakfast in the morning, the journey was undertaken to go Manchester via a route which passed through Peak District. This was a nice scenic route through the heart of Peak District and the boys much enjoyed the nice natural beauty of the area. Our destination in Manchester was Old Trafford stadium, whereby we were scheduled for time to spend in the museum, followed by a stadium tour. The stadium tour was much comprehensive as we were able to visit various stadium stands, the changing rooms, the entrance tunnel, the pitch side, the dugout and other historic parts of the stadium. After this splendid tour we made our way to Darul Aman mosque in Manchester. We firstly offered our Zuhr & Asr salaat upon arrival, which was followed by a late lunch. The boys were then permitted time to play badminton and table tennis within the mosque facilities. This was throughly enjoyed by the boys and many didn't wish to leave! Our trip concluded with Maghrib & Ishaa salaat at the mosque before making our return journey back home to the various parts of Hertfordshire region. Alhamdolillah overall a very successful and enjoyable trip for the Atfal from Hertfordshire.

On Saturday 6th of February 2016, Luton Atfal held a special baking class whereby all tifls baked their very own cookies. All Atfal were firstly demonstrated the steps undertaken to bake cookies before being given the ingredients. A mixture of chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies were baked. All the Atfal boys differed in their technique when it came to the mixing and forming of the cookie dough. One particular tifl, namely Intesaar ul-Haq, was very confident and had quickly managed to make a fine ball of cookie dough! After allowing sufficient time to bake in the oven, the cookies were then taken out and either eaten or saved for later by the Atfal. Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyed and unique session held for the local Atfal.

On Friday the 12th February 2016 North East Region were blessed with the opportunity to host the Masroor Regional Atfal Football team.The Qafila included 16 Atfal accompanied by 3 Khuddam and the Amir-e-Qafila was Humayun Ahmad sahib (Naib Nazim Atfal). The group arrived at Bait’ul Hamd Mosque in Bradford (North East) at 10:30pm for a weekend retreat.

Upon arrival the group from Masroor Region took a comfort break, after travelling over 5 hours from London. Prior to their arrival the Atfal were canvassed to find out their preferred choice of meal, overwhelmingly they choose Pizza. After enjoying their meal, the group were shown the sleeping quarters and settled in. Some further needs were quickly addressed to ensure that the Atfal could comfortably go to sleep and they were fresh for the following day events.

The Atfal Football League North was scheduled for 11:00am Saturday 13th February, however for our guests from Masroor Region the day commenced with congregational Fajr prayer. After Fajr Sala’at the Atfal partook in a fitness session at a nearby park. They returned at approximately 9:00am and were welcomed with hearty breakfast of omelettes, toast and cereal to prepare them for the day ahead.

Breakfast finished before schedule, allowing for a quick visit to Masjid Al-Mahdi. The Atfal were given a tour of the mosque and its grounds whilst being informed about its construction and had a memorable group picture.

The group returned to Bait’ul Hamd in good time for the opening session of the Atfal Football League North in which Masroor region were guest participants. After the opening session all participants made their way over to the venue (Goals Bradford).

The tournament finished at 5:00pm with the crowning our esteem guests as the winners who faced North West as their respective finalists. The group made their way back to Bait’ul Hamd Mosque, to relax and refresh themselves before an evening meal with the Majlis Khuddam’ul Ahmadiyya Northeast regional Amila who had organised a barbeque.

Later the group where introduced to a number of team building exercises which the Atfal thoroughly enjoyed and eventually the day ended with an interactive discussion on the topic of ‘communion with Allah’ chaired by Regional Qaid North East Wadood Ahmad Daud sb.

On the morning of Sunday the 14th February, the Atfal were served freshly made crepes along with other choices for breakfast. After which, they swiftly made their way over to the local Bowling centre and the Atfal enjoyed over 1hr of playing time. Eventually all the fun had to come to an end and at approximately 12:00pm our guests departed from Bradford for their long journey back to London leaving behind fond memories of the weekend they had spent with us.

On the 18th of December by the Grace of Allah, Khuddam Ul Ahmadiyya and Atfal Ul Ahmadiyya Milton Keynes visited the local children's ward at Milton Keynes hospital to deliver them gifts and toys for the festive season. The preparations for this started several months ago where Khuddam, Atfal and other Jamaat members were requested to donate to some new toys to this great cause. By the Grace of Allah, there was an overwhelming response by members and many good quality toys were donated. Qaid sahib, along with several other members visited the ward to donate the toys. We also donated some small gifts and chocolate to the staff of the hospital, which they were very appreciative of. The staff were also very grateful and praised the fact that we had donated to these toys. We were told that these toys would be very beneficial to the children that would be spending the festive season in hospital. Some of the toys that we donated were very specific learning/sensory toys and again the staff were very appreciative of this. After further discussion with the play leader on the ward we were told that they are still quite short of volunteers. Qaid sahib as well as some other Khuddam members volunteered to be trained as volunteers so they can work as volunteers regularly within the ward. This will become a regular event within Milton Keynes Qiadat Insha'Allah.